When it comes to finding ways to keep animals out of spots where they have no business in being, people can get really imaginative. Earlier this year, we posted about a special bird-repulsing system that keeps the little animals from pooping into your pool’s pristine water. Now, the following one will be of particular interest to those of you who have cats who can’t get over their plant-chewing addiction. Lo and behold, the Blender Defender:
[Via [H]]
by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Having found the LittleBigPlanet marriage proposal so endearing, I decided to seek out some other inventive and geeky proposals. After all, geeks are great at looking outside the box. So here are a few proven geeky ways to say, “Will you marry me?”
As most of you probably already know, the new MacBook has been released early this week. While the visual aspect of the beast is quite appealing, one of the features that I didn’t consider that fantastic was the new buttonless multi-touch trackpad. I mean, I already hate trackpads that have the “tapping” feature enabled, why would this be any different? Anyways, I guess I’ll have to wait and try one to see how this thing works. In the meantime, here’s a short presentation explaining how the new multi-touch trackpad works.
By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
The man who composed the famous “Batman” theme, Neal Hefti, has died at the age of 85.
The Batman theme ran from 1966 to 1968, became a Top 40 hit and secured the 1966 Grammy Award for best instrumental theme. But Hefti admitted that it was one of the hardest musical themes that he had ever written – and one that he almost gave up on.
Thank God he didn’t because it subsequently went down in cult history as one of the most memorable theme songs ever (and one of my personal favourites).
So in memory of Neal Hefti, may he rest in peace, raise your speaker volume because here comes…..BATMAN!
In case you’re wondering how Apple managed to build the new MacBook out of a single piece of aluminum, the company released a short product tour that quickly shows how the laptop is manufactured. As usual, the video is extremely well made and features the intro music from Viva La Vida, the awesome new album from ColdPlay. Video after the jump.
Long-time [GAS] reader and employee of GFI, a sys-admin-loved company, Jesmond Darmanin has recently contacted me to let me know about one of his latest creation: PSTPanic!
Basically, PSTPanic! is a site that promotes GFI’s mail archiving solution, GFIMailArchiver (which is great, by the way, else I wouldn’t be posting about it), and features a fun little contest that many of you might be interested in participating in.
Do your colleagues hide away in terror when they see you trying to solve .pst problems? Has that throbbing vein in your forehead become more prominent ever since you became an administrator? Do you suffer from PST panic?
You’re not alone! Post a photo of yourself showing us what .pst panic does to you. Does it make you cry? Crawl under your desk in hope that it will sort itself out when you emerge? Make you set your PC on fire?
Once you’ve uploaded a picture with your panic-stricken face on it, other users of the site can then rate your entry from 1 (not frustrated) to 10 (extremely frustrated). The person with the highest score wins first prize, an Amazon.com gift certificate worth $250. There are many nice prizes to be won, so head over there and send in your pictures!
By Jimmy Rogers
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
Today was the big keynote event Apple fanatics have been waiting for. Steve Jobs and his team graced the stage once more in order to update the Apple line and get it ready for the holiday shopping season. While the summer and spring were both big events for the iPhone and the iPods, September or October is traditionally the time when Apple brings out the big guns for its Macs.
This keynote was no exception to the rule. If you want to know the exact layout of the presentation, I suggest either checking out the Engadget liveblog or simply waiting for Apple to put out an official version through iTunes or the Apple.com front page.
If you’re too impatient, here is the long and short of it, condensed for your convenience:
I’m not much of a graphics aficionado, but one of the constant complaints about Macs (and many notebooks in general) is their lack of graphics power. I think this latest update is a serious attempt by Apple to take the worry out of potential consumers’ minds.
The multi-touch trackpad has me worried because not only will the multi-touch controls invariably confuse some people, but I think this is yet another step in Steve Jobs’ quest to destroy all buttons. Personally, I get irritated when someone leaves tap-clicking on in their preferences because it’s simply not how I prefer to use a touchpad.
I love the move to a new “black and chrome” theme. I think it makes the MacBook Pro very attractive and will certainly wow potential buyers this Winter.
There were a lot of little bits and pieces to this update, so please check out the liveblog or the link below for a little more hardcore listings of the specs. Also, be sure to leave your thoughts on these developments in the comments.
[Image from Engadget]
by Casey Lynn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
The much anticipated puzzle and word-creation game for Playstation 3, LittleBigPlanet, hasn’t even been released yet and it’s already changing lives. The game lets players build their own levels and share them through the PlayStation Network. It is due for release October 21, but has already had an extensive run in beta thanks to gaming websites offering codes for access.
One amorous gamer used a level he created himself to propose to his girlfriend.
How I asked my GF to marry me in Little Big Planet. My (now) Fiancee was playing the level. She was so shocked she kept playing and knew i was filming. Afterwords we hugged, she cried, and I gave her an engagement ring.
He notes that the level is called “Love and Marriage” by the user DimmuJed. So you may even be able to play it yourself–or use it to propose!
Try to imagine you’ve got an important test to pass tomorrow and you’re going to epically fail it. Whether it’s because you haven’t studied or because you are just plain academically inept, you know that doom is around the corner. What options do you then have? Don’t take the exam? Cheat? Cram?
The following video will let you hear the thought pattern of someone who is falling an exam while giving you a few pointers on how you can postpone the inevitable.
You got to give it to the ingenious old chap for coming up with such an awesome steampunk-esque musical machine. And in case you’re wondering why he decided to build this, he has all the reasons listed on a little sign he displays during his performances.
I built this machine because of unreliable guitarists.
It don’t smoke!
It don’t drink!
And it’s never late.
[Via Neatorama]